Forest Inventory and Analysis

Welcome to the Natural Resource Inventory and Monitoring Science Area Web page. I’m Bill Burkman, Program Manager for the Southern Research Station Forest Inventory and Analysis Work Unit, which forms the majority of the research in this science area.

Forests occupy 40 percent of the South’s 534 million acres. These 215 million acres of forests provide many benefits and vary in their ecological characteristics. One dominant characteristic is that private ownership prevails across the region—approximately 88 percent of the forest land is in private ownerships. Although the South constitutes about 30 percent of the nation’s forest land, removals from Southern forests account for close to 60 percent of the total removals nationwide.
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As of 2006, the 13 Southern States contain 33 percent of the U.S. population and are growing faster than the rest of the nation. These and other forces place additional demands on the region’s forests.

This science area collects, analyzes, and reports information on the status and trends of southern forests. This is accomplished through the Forest Inventory and Analysis or FIA Program, which has conducted forest inventory since the 1930s.

Our mission is to create and maintain a current comprehensive inventory and analysis of the present and prospective conditions of the nation’s forest and rangelands.

The FIA program tracks forest health indicators along with comprehensive forest inventory data across the southern States. We measure each State about every 5 to 7 years, depending on the State.

FIA also collects information on Timber Products Output from the southern forest industry and for the National Woodland Owners Survey.

Information collected by our talented team of researchers answers questions such as how much forest exists, where it exists, who owns it, and how it is changing. You can access and query FIA data, information, and reports through our Web page.

In addition, FIA combines this information with related data on insects, diseases, and other stressors to assess the health and potential future risks to forests.

This data can help users to evaluate wildlife habitat conditions, assess ecosystem management practices, and support planning and decision-making activities by public and private enterprises.

FIA works cooperatively with its primary partners, the southern State forestry agencies, in its inventory efforts.

Please let us know how we can meet your forest resource information needs in the future.
Thank you for our interest in the Natural Resource Inventory and Monitoring Science Area and the FIA Program.

Inventory and Monitoring. Quantifying and monitoring the condition of natural resources in the South is critical for determining ecosystem responses to forest health threats and improvements in natural resource condition resulting from management activities. Natural Resources Inventory and Monitoring will provide the knowledge and tools required to quantify, monitor, and predict the condition of natural resources. Complete Charter...